{"sf1_id":811120,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Harsh Realities of a Coming Apocalypse","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2575,"posted_at":"2015-01-24T17:21:00.000Z","tags":["Anthro","Bovine","Equine","Plot Development","Sci-Fi","Steam Punk","Story Progression","technology","vulpine"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/811120-harsh-realities-of-a-coming-apocalypse","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/811120","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=811120\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#12 of Tales from The Hub\n\nWow. My 1500th posting. I think I really am manic.","content":"                The face disappeared into the normal everyday dust.\n                \"You\ndid see that didn't you?\"\n                \"Yeah,\nI saw it. A lot of good a pile of transient art will do us,\" bemoaned Serrena.\n                \"I\nthink that was just a sign. Which is scary if you think about it, for it means\nhe can track us down. I don't know that I like that idea.\"\n                \"Why\nshouldn't he be able to track us down? He is the creator after all. If he\ncreated all this, then he has the power and the might to do anything he wants.\"\nIt seemed obvious that Veronica really had the hots for this creature.\n                I stood\nup. \"I'm going back to the Brotherhood. If this guy is still wandering around in\nthere, maybe there is some hope for him yet.\"\n                I stand\na few heads taller than most everyone else, as I think I've mentioned, so even\nin a crowd I can be picked out. That doesn't mean I'm the only of my kind, but\nI do get noticed. I was hardly out on the street for a few minutes when that\nstupid taxi cab driver pulled alongside me. \n                \"Yo\nbud! Who the hell was my mystery guest? Whatever he did to this old beast, I\nowe him free rides for a lifetime!\"\n                I\nstooped down and gazed at him. \"Whose lifetime? He's already older than the\nsorry life on this bloody planet. But I'll pass it along to him if I see him\nagain.\"\n                The\ncabbie was a little thrown off by that, and finding no logical explanation for my\nwords, passed it off as a joke. \"You do that. This thing han't purred like this\nin years. Now if he could just do the same thing with my wife!\"\n                The\nthing roared off like a racer and vanished around the corner. I kept walking\nuntil I was back to the boundary line between the Brotherhood HQ and the rest\nof the city. It was deceptively quiet around the outside, though I knew from\nexperience that there would be trouble if I even looked like I was going to\ncross the line.\n                I\nleaned against another building and waited. This creator had to have something\nup that skinny sleeve of his. As I waited, I detected the sound of rain, which\nwas odd, because not only was the sky fairly clear, it hardly rained in the\ncity. Yet the sound was there. I twitched my ears until centered on the sound.\nMy eyes opened a tad bit wider at the sight.\n                The\nfront of what he had called the library had a huge stone façade, put up a few\ncenturies ago by the Brotherhood declaring that this building was to be theirs\nfor eternity. \nIt was presently melting.\n                I know\nthat sounds weird, but the longer I stared, the less of it was there. It was\ntransforming into an eroded chunk of rock. The area underneath it was growing\nhigher and higher with a pile of shifting sand. Underneath the slab was a\nsmooth faced area that I recognized as being one of the old time vidscreens. It\nwas enormous! There were a few broken ones still attached to various buildings\naround town, but no one had the balls or the ability to make them that size\nanymore. Legend had it these were used to promote news, learning, and to\ntransmit information in times of disaster.\n                I don't\nthink anyone knew this one even existed anymore.\n                It was\nabout then that things started to get really interesting. For one, the sand\npile began to move. It didn't do any neat tricks; it just smoothed itself out\nover the terrace until it blended in. The only difference now was the odd\ncolor. A few members of the Brotherhood were out, staring in dismay as their\nbuilding seemed to dissolve around them. I was having a great time watching\ntheir stupid faces. Whatever I had managed to unleash in the warehouse was at\nleast good for a laugh. I almost hoped he brought the building down around\ntheir heads.\n                More\nand more folks began to pour out of the building to witness this unusual event.\nI had to wonder what their explanation would be once this was all over. After\nall, they were the first ones really impacted. It was then that my sharp eyes caught\nsight of the robed figure. Whatever the little son of a bitch had done, he had\ndone it well. But I could see his movements were slow. His body was probably\nfailing him.\n                And\nthen he fell. I mean, he literally fell flat on the ground. It took a moment,\nduring which no one seemed to pay him any mind before he rose again, this time acting\nmore steady on his feet. He stepped around the milling and confused members of\nthe cult, down the steps and directly to me.\n                \"Hello\nVeracity.\"\n                His\nvoice sounded a bit different.\n                \"Hello\nyourself. What the hell did you unleash on them?\" I couldn't see his face of\ncourse, thanks to that stupid rebreather, but he turned and shook his head. \n                \"Nothing.\nMy nanites need material to replicate and that stone had high silica content.\nSo essentially, they're simply feeding right now.\"\n                The\nvidscreen was nearly exposed as the sand continued to fall. I heard a slight\nchuckle, and the timbre and tone of it made my skin crawl. This guy hadn't\nshown any real flash yet, not the type I had expected. Whatever he was going to\nbe doing, I had a feeling that all of this was mere premonition, if you will,\nof what was to come.\n                \"If you\nsay so. I ain't never seen anything break down rock like that before. I can\nonly think what would happen if you set them loose on people.\"\n                \"Bah.\nNot a spits worth of silica in the living body. Well, these sort of living\nbodies. It would be a waste of time.\"\n                \"So\nthen what's going to happen?\"\n                \"For\nnow, I wait until I have word from these little beauties that everything is in\nplace.\"\n                \"And\nthen?\"\n                \"And\nthen I unleash the great plagues.\"\n                That\ndidn't sound too promising. \"Come again.\"\n                \"Look\nVeracity. As much fun as watching this is, I think that I would feel better\nsomewhere else. I believe you were at a café earlier?\"\n                \"You\nknow where it's at chief. I'll follow you.\"\n                And so\nwe went back and met with the others. I told them what I had seen, and our\nlittle god explained matters even further.\n                \"What\nhe saw was me building an army. Everyone still likes to believe that bigger and\nbadder rules. That is always a bad assumption. \nDisease can take down an entire population, and the organism is no\nbigger than the microtip of a steel needle. To hell with guns and bombs; if you\nwant to win a war, do so with an army of the microscopic.\"\n                \"So you\nhave created an invasion? People will not be expecting anything; they'll have\nno means of defending themselves.\" That was Veronica, and I think her like for\nthis guy just dropped a few points.\n                \"Defend\nagainst what? I am not attacking people, only a cause; a belief that is twisted\nand wrong.\"\n                \"How?\"\n                \"For\nthat, you'll have to wait and suffer it out just like everyone else. Let's just\nsay that a longtime ago, someone on my world said to give the people what they\nwant.\"\n                I had heard\nsuch nonsense before. \"The people don't know what the hell they want. They want\nsomeone to tell them what they want. They're silly, noxious idiots who don't\nlike thinking on their own.\"\n                \"Oh\ncome now Veracity. Really? Do you have such a low opinion of your fellows?\"\n                \"Yes.\"\n                \"Good\nboy. Still, I think that you should give them a little more credit. And yet\nsomewhere down the line, I think that certain strains of the DNA have come\nforward, and they aren't the best features. This place has spiraled downward a\nbit like my own world. But I think I can turn it around.\"\n                \"How?\"\n                \"I just\ntold you. I'll give everyone just what they want.\"\n                \"And\nthat would be what exactly?\"\n                \"A\ngod.\"\n                There\nwas silence for a moment. I had an inkling what he was doing, but I liked being\ncontrary. \"But you said there were no gods.\"\n                \"None\nthat I've met yet. But people get ideas stuck in their head and they can't seem\nto let go of them. An afterlife for example. That was created by the human mind's\nneed for there to be something more than just the miserable existence of\nregular life. The hope that there is something better. There isn't. It's\nphysically impossible unless you did what I did and transferred the consciousness\nover to a different system. But outside of that, all life is is a matter of\nbiochemically induced electrical impulses stored in such a way as to create\nawareness. And even then, the higher the awareness, the more there is likely\nthat can go wrong with the functioning of it.\"\n                \"Which\nmeans dead is dead.\"\n                \"Sadly\nyes. And there isn't a cure for stupidity. The great secret is not to try\nliving to get into another level of being, but to make the most of the one you\nhave in front of you.\"\n                I\nsucked in a breath. Somewhere in the back of my head I was holding hostage the\nthought that maybe this guy could bring back my family. I now knew why I never\nhad much hope in things. They were false and disappointing. \"I guess I didn't\nexpect much otherwise.\"\n                Veronica\nwas leaning in, once again having her faith in this freak restored to pristine\ncondition. \"So how are you going to convince everyone that you're a god? You\nreally are, you know.\"\n                His\nvoice nearly crackled with anger. \"I am not. But first I must show them that I\nam. I must meet the expectations and then I must dash them. Only then will I\ndestroy what has been built.\"\n                \"I\ndon't get it. I don't see how you can do both things. If you appear as a god,\nthe people will venerate you as a god.\"\n                \"They\nwon't have that much time. This is all going to go down very quickly, and I\nguarantee you that in the end, I will make sure that ninety nine percent of the\npopulation understands the nature of things.\"\n                I\nsnorted. \"This I gotta see. I don't think ten percent of this stupid planet has\nthe brains to successfully pick their collective noses, and the rest should be\nground into meat.\"\n                Arguing\nwith a god is never a good idea. From his sleeve came a snake, or a rope, or\nsomething long, black and sinuous. It went into my nose in a flash and I felt\nspikes emerge and anchor into the tender flesh. \"I don't care how much discontent\nyou have in your heart. People can learn. Just like you right now. You're\nthinking that maybe you crossed the line and that you wish I'd remove this\npainful obtrusion in you sinuses.\"\n                I\nbarely nodded.\n                \"Then\nplease shut up. I told you before that I don't blame you for your feelings, but\nI am getting tired of your actions. Dwelling on your anger is poor ground to\nbuild your remaining life upon.\"\n                The\ntentacle retreated.\n                Veronica,\nin all her mental glory had watched with rapt amazement.\"How did you do that?\"\n                A black\nhand emerged from the robe. It reached up and pulled back the mask. The inside\nof the hood was shadowed, but when the hand pulled it back, it was revealed to\nshow a black head. The face looked like sculpted stone. Everything about it was\nblack, except for a glassy appearance to the eyes.\n                \"I had\nto leave the organics behind. There was too much flawed material for it to\nlast. This is much better and much more versatile.\"\n                She\nreached out and touched the face. He opened his mouth to show the black teeth\nand the cavity leading to a mock throat. If she had been merely enamored\nbefore, she was about to melt now. \"This is incredible!\"\n                I\nremembered him saying that those freaky little robot things could form into\nsolid objects. I guess I failed to understand their versatility. I never\nthought he could reform his entire body out of them, and still manage to\nfunction intelligently. That must be the other parts he mentioned, capable of\nholding his brain together in some coherent fashion.\n                He\npulled the robe together and put the mask back on. \"It's technology. Just like\nthe body I created before was made by\na machine, now my body is a machine.\nThen again, all bodies are machines in one form or another.\"\n                I was\nrubbing my nose. Machines indeed. \"So now you have a body that's invincible?\"\n                \"Not\ninvincible. It's just more suited to my present needs. It's malleable,\nversatile and adjustable.\"\n                \"And\nthis will help you how? I mean, I saw your little things eating up rock, but in\nthe long run, what good are they going to do you?\"\n                \"They\nare not going to be doing me any good whatsoever. Everything I'm doing, I'm\ndoing for you. You aren't my responsibility anymore, and haven't been for a\nvery long time. But you did start out as my creations, and therefore I have a\nbit of a soft spot in my heart for you. But once I set things back on course, I\nwill leave. This is your world, not mine. I will not play the part of the\noverseer.\"\n                That\nleft me a bit speechless. Just a tiny bit mind you.\n                \"You\nwon't stay?\"\n                \"No.\"\n                \"How\nwill you get back?\"\n                \"I\nwon't\"\n                \"What?\"\n                \"I am\nstill where I am. This is only a projection of a small part of my\nconsciousness, and then it's only a copy. It operates on its own and functions as\na separate entity. When the time comes it will be destroyed.\"\n                Veronica\nsat bolt upright. \"What?\"\n                \"I\nthink I made myself completely understood. When the ultimate function of this\nbody has been reached, it shall self destruct. It cannot remain behind. To do\nso would undermine everything I hope to achieve.\"\n                \"No\ndead god to put in a box to venerate?\" I hoped I didn't sound insincere.\n                \"Correct.\nMy own people venerated bits of animal bones because they were told that they\nbelonged to saints. They worshiped rocks that fell from the sky. I intend to\ntake away every last shred of their belief.\"\n                \"That's\ngoing to hurt.\"\n                \"Yes it\nwill. But pain often has a way of making you wake up and realize that you are\nstill alive. I may be an unpleasant sensation, but it is the only one that\nmatters in life.\""}